Chicken 101: Getting Started with Chickens
You are just getting started with chickens. You don't know anything about chickens besides the fact that they lay eggs. Great!
So we're going to go through everything about how to raise them. The number 1 thing that you definitely need when it comes to chickens is a house for the chickens, AKA the chicken coop. The most important thing that you need when you're thinking about your chicken coop is making it predator proof, meaning no predators such as foxes, raccoons, rats, or ermines can get in.
First things first! You need a chicken coop!
These are the most common predators for chickens and so you want to make sure that it is quite secure. We will be doing another post with more details on properly predator proofing your chicken coop and all the nitty gritty details of having a chicken coop. But the main thing is that you want it predator proof.
Chicken Coop Basics
Predator Proofing: Ensure your coop is secure against common predators like foxes, raccoons, rats, ermine, and skunks. We'll dive deeper into predator-proofing techniques in a future post.
Coop vs. Run: The coop is the indoor space where chickens sleep and lay eggs, while the run is the outdoor space where they can roam. The run should be fully covered with hardware cloth and partially covered with a solid roof, especially in rainy or snowy climates. Steel roofing is preferable to tarps for durability.
Well, what's the difference between a chicken coop and a run? Well, your chicken coop is going to essentially be the interior part of your chicken's house, whereas the run is kind of like an aviary, a caged in exterior pen. Ideally you want at least a part of it to be sheltered, and especially if you live in Canada or anywhere where there's a lot of rain or snow, you want some part of the run to be covered with a roof. It can be anything from a tarp, although tarps aren't exactly the best option for wet weather, to a steel roof. Hardware cloth is another must for building your run. If you can find 1/4 inch, that helps keep out mice and anything bigger. 1/2 is fine, and will keep rats and anything bigger out, but mice still be able to get in. If predators are a problem in your area, be sure to add a pedator apron around your coop. We will go over this in another post but you can find lots of videos on YouTube about how to build one.
Below we included a photo of a chicken coop and run!
Coop vs. Run
Coop is the indoor space where chickens sleep and lay eggs, while the run is the outdoor space where they can roam.
Essential Supplies
Water and Feeder: Chickens need fresh water and food. Use a proper water container and feeder.
Feed:
Starter Feed: For chicks, provides appropriate nutrients for growth.
Grower Feed: For chickens 8-18 weeks old, supports growth with different nutrient ratios.
Layer Feed: For laying hens, typically with 16-20% protein, depending on the breed.
Grit and Calcium: Essential for digestion and strong eggshells.
Now that you have your chicken coop, you will need access to water and feeder for your chickens. You will also need feed grit and calcium. Now, it is important to make sure that you're getting the appropriate feed for your bird.
There are three main types of feed. There's chick, grower and layer. Usually when you're getting chicks you want to put them on starter feed and the reason for this is the percentage of calcium and protein is going to be different than the other two and the pieces of the feed is going to be smaller, therefore just easier for a chick to actually eat and digest. Grower feed is more ideal. When your chicks are 8 weeks old, you can transition them to grower. You'll keep them on this feed up until 18 weeks. After 18 weeks you switch them over to layer feed. This is specifically for laying hens. You want to put them on layers feed, which usually consists of having a protein of between 16 and 18%. Personally, I like anything between 18 and 20%, but this pertains more to the needs of the chicken depending on their breed. If you can't find anything above 18% you can always supplement by adding things to their diet like scrambled eggs (yes its fine and they love it), turkey feed, or black soldier fly larvae.
Another thing you will need when starting your chicken journey is bedding. Some of the most common beddings to use is straw, pine shavings, sand and hemp bedding. Now clearly we're going to favor the hemp bedding and I think that's self-evident as to why. But it's always good to do your research when you're getting started with chickens. And we will do a whole other post on just the comparisons between chicken beddings so we can demonstrate the difference. Most chicken breeds require roosts because they like to roost up at night. You want to avoid chickens sleeping on the coop floor for a few reasons. Chickens continue to poop while they're sleeping, so if a chicken is snoozing on the floor bed she'll likely wake up with a poop matted bum… which trust me… you don't wanna clean up.
There are many kinds of bedding! We think hemp is the best, check out our FAQs for more details.
Bedding
Types: Common bedding options include straw, pine shavings, sand, and hemp bedding. Each has its benefits, but hemp is often favored for its absorbency and ease of cleaning. Check out our bedding
Roosts
Chickens need roosts to sleep on. Proper height is crucial to avoid drafts, injury and to ensure comfort. Proper ventilation is also key to prevent drafts and maintain airflow.
So you want to add a roost inside your chicken coop for them to roost at night. You don't want to have this too high. You don't want to have it too low. It's also super important to pay attention to things like ventilation. You don't want a draft, so don't put your roost where they would be getting a draft. Proper ventilation in your chicken coop is super, super important. There are tons of photos that you can look up on Google. Type in chicken coop ventilation and it'll literally show you the difference between a coop draft versus ventilation.
Chicken Sizes
Now moving on to chicken sizes. There are two main chicken sizes. There's bantam and there's standard. The most common bantam breeds are Silkies, D'uccles, and Seabrights. Standard sized chickens are pretty much any other large breed of chicken. So you can get everything from Plymouth Rock, Bresse, Olive Eggers, Ameraucanas, and more! Those are all considered standard sized birds.
Bantam: Small breeds like Silkies and Seramas. They lay smaller eggs and are often kept for their ornamental value.
Standard: Larger breeds like Plymouth Rock, Easter Eggers, and Russian Orloffs. Includes both laying and dual-purpose breeds.
Now if you get into what I like to call the larger standard birds, then you get into the chickens like the Cochin, Brahma, Maran and Orpington. Note that these breeds are still classified as “standard size”, they're just the larger standard breeds. Now in recent years they have started to make Bantam sized versions of the Cochin and the Brahmas, and this was specifically for aesthetics. A lot of people like the Bantam sizes because they can fit more in a coop than the big ones. So they have started to breed Bantam sizes for some of these breeds.
Types of Chickens
Now there are also three different types of chickens. There's layers, dual purpose and meat. Meat birds are often referred to as broiler chickens. While there are heritage breeds that can be used for meat, broiler chickecks are not considered a heritage breed bird. These were specifically designed for the agricultural industry, farm factoring, etcetera to grow the largest type of bird in the quickest amount of time.
Layers: Best for egg production. They typically live 5-8 years and lay eggs regularly.
Dual-Purpose: Good for both eggs and meat. Examples include Jersey Giants, Orpingtons and Brahmas. They grow slower than meat birds but offer versatility.
Meat Birds: Genetically modified for fast growth and used primarily for meat. They have a shorter lifespan and are not prolific egg layers.
Then you have your layers, which are just your regular chickens that can live anywhere if they're decent quality, anywhere between 5 to 8 years. They're really good egg producers, meaning that they lay every day or every other day, and the bulk of the heritage breeds are either layer or dual. Dual purpose birds means that they can be used for eggs and for meat. Now what's the difference between a dual purpose and a meat bird?
Well, again, meat birds because they've been designed to grow incredibly quickly, they are not designed to live for very long. After a while they get so big for their bodies that their bones and structure cannot withstand the amount of meat that grows on them. This is why we call them meat birds, because they're specifically designed to be processed within a certain time frame.
Heritage breeds have existed for a very, very long time, similar to dog breeds. If you look at dogs, you'll see that we have purebred breeds that have existed for hundreds of years that served differentpurposes. It's basically the same thing with chickens. Some of the best examples of a dual purpose bird are the Black Copper Maran, Orpington, Cochin, and Brahma. Those are just a handful of examples of dual purpose birds.
You can also look at the Jersey Giant. These are birds that can be definitely used for meat because they are extremely large birds, but they do take longer to grow out. So if you're using them specifically for meat, you will need to wait until they have reached full grown maturity, which is closer to around 20 weeks old. Between 20 and 30 weeks old is good for processing, but they also make fantastic layers. They lay a decent amount of eggs per year. Some breeds will lay a little bit less, but this I find actually tends to be more dependent on the quality of the bird as opposed to the breed. They don't lay significantly less than other breeds.
Choosing Breeds
Think about what you are looking for! Are you looking for egg production, personality, colourful eggs or something else?
If you were looking for a chicken thats a high production layer, well you're probably going to want to go with something like an Australorp, Plymouth Rock, or the Rhode Island Red. If getting the maximum number of eggs possible, then you want to go with something like that. If you are more focused on having a friendly type bird, you want something that is cuddly, that is very friendly and not flighty, then you may want to go with an Orpington.
Egg Production: Breeds like Plymouth Rock are known for high egg production.
Personality: Friendly breeds like Orpingtons are good for families.
Colorful Eggs: Some breeds lay different-colored eggs. If this is a goal, look for breeds that are known for their egg color such as the Ameraucana, Olive egger, or Marans.
Orpington tend to be extremely friendly birds. If you want a specifically a smaller breed of bird, like a Bantam size, you know you're going to want to look into the Bantam breeds.
There are people who want multi colored eggs. This is a relatively new trend that people are starting to learn about. Not to say that these breeds are new by any means, but they're increasingly becoming more popular now. So if your goal is to get kind of that rainbow colored dozen, well then you're going to want to target breeds that lay specific colors.
Sourcing Quality Birds
Sourcing quality birds bred to standard vs sourcing birds for basic needs. What do I mean by that? Are you looking to have a backyard flock? Do you just want to have some chickens for eggs and a fun family pet? Interested in breeding? My suggestion is to go with a really good or well sourced breeder. If you're looking for meat birds and you don't really necessarily need a heritage breed, you just want to wham bam done have them processed at around 12 weeks old. Then you can definitely go with a hatchery.
If your goal is again to just produce the maximum amount of eggs possible and age of the bird or hardiness of the bird is not necessarily a concern, again go with a hatchery or maybe a more local barnyard type mix bird. The important thing to take away from this is to understand the expectation for cost.
Breeders vs. Hatcheries: Breeders offer high-quality, well-bred birds but at a higher price. Hatcheries provide more affordable options but may not always have the same breed standards.
Understanding Pricing: Higher prices may reflect better breeding practices and bird health. Always ask for details about the birds’ lineage and health.
This is something that I find has been increasingly a problem. Folks don't understand the difference between somebody who's selling chicks at $5 versus people who sell chicks at $20. Now, this doesn't mean that that your $20 chick is going to be necessarily better than the people who are selling their chicks at $5. Cost does not ALWAYS determine quality, so do not be shy to ask the appropriate questions. What determines quality is whether the bird meets its standard for the breed.
So again, if you're looking for a bird that is likely going to have a longer lifespan, is super hardy, or isn't prone to disease. You want to source your birds from a breeder that is breeding responsibility and if applicable, to standard.
Then again, you can expect to go to a hatchery or somebody that's just breeding them in their backyard and pay anywhere from 10 to $15 a chick. So it's just important to take into consideration your goals with your birds and have the appropriate expectation when it comes to pricing. DON'T be afraid to ask somebody that is selling a chick for $18-$20, what's the difference between your bird that you're selling here and Jimmy Joe down the road thats selling chicks for $10.
Most breeders I know will be happy to explain their pricing and why they charge the specific amount. And normally it's because these birds are bred to standard and they've been a project for this breeder for many years.
Avoiding Scams
So just as a bonus point to add again, because you're new, I'm assuming that if you're reading this post and you're new to the chicken community, it is so important to be aware and careful with scammers. Unfortunately, we live in the day of cyber scammers. They're awful and they are all over, even in the agricultural and chicken community.
If you see something that seems too good to be true, ask yourself the question is it? Don't be afraid to ask for referrals, check the comment section of their posts. If they are posting often in facebook groups, be sure to check their profiles outside of the group, was it created in the past year? Have they posted in other Facebook groups from other countries? Have they made previous posts in the group?
These are all things that you can definitely check if you were to copy and paste things from their post into your search engine and see if these posts have been made in other places and read the comments. If you see people are calling them out as scammers, then you know obviously you don't want to do business with them. I can't tell you how many people I have met this year that unfortunately fallen for these scams. That's another thing. Very few people will ask for deposits. Now that being said, a breeder or somebody selling a coop or products can ask for deposits. It does happen. I know a few breeders that do ask for deposits, but they will not be insulted if you ask for reference.
Check Credibility: Verify the seller’s history, look for reviews, and check social media profiles.
Ask Questions: Don’t hesitate to ask for references, proof of bird quality, or video evidence before making a purchase.
Conclusion
So that was a lot to cover with just a simple chicken 101 post. But hopefully this does help quite a few of you out there and provides you with a little bit of insight. Starting with chickens can be an exciting and rewarding venture. By understanding the basics of coops, feed, breeds, and sourcing, you'll be well on your way to successfully raising your flock. Stay tuned for more detailed posts on specific aspects of chicken care!